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Monday, 14 November 2016

This week's top royal Instagrams, brotherly love

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry on Remembrance Sunday

(photo MOD images/ Ross Tilly)

They are the princes who won hearts around the world and now William and Harry are winning hearts on social media. One photo of two brothers paying their respects to the millions who lost their lives in war has become the most liked royal Instagram image of the past week.

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, paying their respects at the Cenotaph, has touched a nerve with the predominantly young audience that Instagram gets and has made a simple photo of them laying their wreaths one of the most liked photos of the year so far. This image, above, of William and Harry has already hit 51k in just over 24 hours, showing its huge popularity.

Next on the list is a close up of William and Kate at the Festival of Remembrance with 47k and counting, following by an image of Prince Harry at the Fields of Remembrance which has so far won over 37,000 likes. So is it the royals. remembrance or a combination of the two driving these Instagram hits?

A photo posted by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on Nov 12, 2016 at 2:52pm PST

The question still hovers on the Royal Family official account where the most liked photo of the past seven days is one shared on Saturday of the Queen at the Festival of Remembrance. This emotional and rather beautiful image has almost 25,000 likes already, less than 48 hours after it was shared. But when we get to Clarence House, the focus changes.

A photo posted by Clarence House (@clarencehouse) on Nov 9, 2016 at 12:58am PST

The most liked Instagram on that account this week is the already world famous photo of the Duchess of Cornwall with her all woman security team during #RoyalVisitUAE. The picture of Camilla and her guards is perfectly poised, eye catching and then some and it's had over 7,000 likes in just a few days. OK, that number is nowhere near the heart hits on the other two royal accounts but given that Clarence House usually averages around 1,000 likes for its photos, it's a mega hit in that context.

Striking photos are what Instagram is all about and that's seen in the most popular image on the brand new official Norwegian Royal site where a photo of Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit at the start of their visit to Canada wins the likes game. The whole picture is eye catching from the bright red coat to the stunning leaves of autumn and the sweet setting of children getting to meet a real life princess. It might only have 234 likes but bear in mind the site has been live for just a week and counts around 2,000 followers so far - Kensington Palace, over a year old, runs into the millions.

A photo posted by Belgian Royal Palace (@belgianroyalpalace) on Nov 9, 2016 at 4:14am PST

Often, the images that win on Instagram are moments that don't make the official royal coverage. This photo of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians is a case in point. The official account for their royal house shared just two images this week but this one, of the couple talking to children during a visit in the week, has an air of informality and gentleness about it that wouldn't always translate to the formal coverage of regal engagements.

Queen Margrethe of Denmark stars in a similar image over at the relatively new Danish account. A behind the scenes image of the Queen of Denmark with one of her dogs during the filming of a programme about royal gardens gets the hits there as we see Margrethe in an offguard moment. Whether social media ends up demystifying royalty or adding another layer to the already complex relationship between media coverage and real life remains to be seen.

A photo posted by Kungahuset (@kungahuset) on Nov 10, 2016 at 1:11am PST

Sometimes, a photo just hits the likes because there's nothing else to do. The Swedish Royal House has been relatively quiet in recent days and this week shared just one image on its official Instagram account, a rather striking portrait of flowers marking a Christmas exhibition. And that brings us to another interesting idea. The royal Christmas cards and portraits used to hit traditional media but this year, more than ever, they will be a social media phenomenen. Which royal house will take the title of likes when it comes to festive photos? Not long to wait now.